


Pinky Promise

by hermitpanda



Series: Pinky Promise [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, a tiny bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 18:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10037402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermitpanda/pseuds/hermitpanda
Summary: “Dad? I’ve been arrested,” he stated when his father answered.“We know. Ellie called Reid, and Shawn called me. We’re on our way now. Don’t say anything until I get there. Are they treating you okay?” Hotch’s voice was steady and calmed the teenager.Jack blew out a shaky breath. “Yeah. I didn’t fight when they arrested me and they’ve just left me sitting in an interrogation room. How soon will you be here?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ellie & her backstory were developed with [dangitpeeta](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dangitpeeta). I offered her writing credit, but she refused. This story definitely wouldn't exist without her. Enjoy :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Jack Hotchner kept his hands in his lap and his eyes on the table in front of him. He wondered if this sickening mix of despair and frustration was how his father had felt when he had been unjustly arrested by a SWAT team for terrorism. He was just as innocent of the crimes he was accused of as his father had been. Although, Jack had to admit that his own arrest had been much less dramatic. He hadn’t been in front of children or armed when two Baltimore police officers and a campus security guard had found him jogging around the practice soccer field with his roommate. He had complied with their instructions and even held his hands out willingly to be cuffed and led to the waiting police car. 

He glanced up when the door finally opened, and a detective stepped inside. “Am I allowed to make a phone call? It would be long distance.”

“Sure. Come on.” The detective gestured for him to stand and follow her. She led him to a desk strewn with case files and handed him the handset. She dialed the number that he recited before sitting in the desk chair and watching him.

“Dad? I’ve been arrested,” he stated when his father answered.

“We know. Ellie called Reid, and Shawn called me. We’re on our way now. Don’t say anything until I get there. Are they treating you okay?” Hotch’s voice was steady and calmed the teenager.

Jack blew out a shaky breath. “Yeah. I didn’t fight when they arrested me and they’ve just left me sitting in an interrogation room. How soon will you be here?”

“The way your father’s driving about 45 minutes. Hang in there, Jack. We’ll get this straightened out. What precinct are you at?” Spencer spoke up.

“The North Division. Do you need an address or directions?” 

“No, I can find it. We’ll be there soon,” Hotch responded. 

Jack sighed. “Okay. Thanks, Dad, Uncle Spencer. See you soon.” He held the handset out to the detective to hang up. He silently followed her back to the interrogation room, obediently sitting in the chair facing the mirror.

“Jack, I’m Detective Landers. I’d like to ask you a few questions.” She folded her hands on top of the case file she’d placed on the table.

“I’ve been advised not to say anything until my father gets here. He’s a lawyer,” Jack responded quietly.

Landers grimaced but stood up. “Fine. Do you need anything? Water or a soda?”

He shook his head. “No thank you.” When the door closed behind the detective, he slouched in his chair and closed his eyes.

~*~

Two of Jack’s soccer teammates dropped down on either side of him on the steps outside the dorms. “Whatcha doing out here man?” Shawn jostled him. 

“Waiting for a friend. We’re gonna get dinner, and she’s gonna show me around the area. She probably won’t care if you guys tag along.” Jack watched for his best friend’s honey-colored curls amongst the sparse crowds on the lawn in front of him.

Daniel groaned. “Don’t look now. The Freak is coming this way.” Jack looked at him questioningly. “Some Ph.D. chick. She graduated from high school super early and is just weird according to some of the older guys. She’s almost always accompanied by a chaperone so she’s not even good for a lay. She’s over there.” He pointed.

Right at Ellie Reid. 

She had piled her curls on top of her head. It was too far away to see the hazel of her eyes but she had opted to wear her glasses instead of contacts. She was wearing a navy,  knee-length pencil skirt with a pink blouse and navy vest. As she turned looking around, he saw that it had an argyle design on the front. He could see that her socks were mismatched, one navy and one pink. She was wearing the pink Converse that he had given her the previous Christmas and the matching messenger bag that his sisters had given her. He grinned. In the almost 14 years that he had known her, she had never changed her clothing style. 

“God, could she get any dorkier?” Daniel laughed.

Jack clenched his teeth and shot a hand out to jerk the other boy towards him. “Don’t ever talk about her that way. She’s not a freak. She’s absolutely brilliant. She’s also not even 16 yet. Her birthday is in two weeks, so she’s jailbait. No one’s going to get a chance to have sex with her if I have anything to say about it.” 

“Jesus, okay.” Daniel held his hands up. “I didn’t know you were all up in her ass.”

“Jack, chill man. Daniel’s just an asshole towards everyone with two X chromosomes. How do you know her?” Shawn interjected when Jack growled and shook the other soccer player.

Jack let go reluctantly. He wanted to make sure that Daniel understood he wouldn’t tolerate any slights towards the girl, but he also didn’t need to get on the wrong side of one of his teammates before the semester even started. “We grew up together. She’s getting her fourth and fifth doctorates here. Her first three are from Cal Tech.” He stood up. He slipped his thumb and forefinger into his mouth and whistled. “Baby Genius!” He called and waved when Ellie looked around.

Her face split into a huge smile and she rushed towards him. “Jack-Jack!” She launched herself into his open arms. “I missed you!”

He squeezed her. She had grown a little bit since the last time he’d seen her so they were nearly eye-to-eye “I missed you too. You’re the one that didn't come home for the summer. Everyone missed you. But nooo, you just had to go and get yourself a fancy internship.”

She pulled away enough to rub the tips of their noses together. Shawn heard them whisper something that sounded like pinky promise before the young doctor spoke again. “They let me help with the research in one of the medical labs. I didn’t do much, just followed my mentor around with a clipboard and recorded data, but it will look good on my resume. Besides you’ve been on campus for two whole weeks and haven’t come to see me a single time.”

“Tonight’s the first time I’ve been allowed away from the soccer team. In fact, I’m not completely sure that this isn’t a hallucination brought on by exhaustion.” He made a face at her.

She laughed and wrinkled her nose at him. “Oh, I’m real Jack Hotchner. We’re being rude to your friends.” She pulled away but linked her arm with his. 

“Oh, sorry. This is Shawn and Daniel. They’re on the soccer team with me, and Shawn’s going to be my roommate. Guys, this is Ellie.” He introduced. He narrowed his eyes at Daniel quickly.

“Well, I’m out. I’ll see you guys later. See you around Ellie.” Daniel jogged off. Jack knew he probably wouldn’t see him again outside of soccer practice and games. He wasn’t heartbroken over it either.

“So you’re super smart?” Shawn asked with a smile.

Ellie nodded shyly. “She has an IQ of 193, graduated high school when she was 10 and has doctorates in math, physics, and engineering from Cal Tech. I’m pretty sure it’s her life’s mission to outdo her dad in every way possible.” Jack grinned at her. She wrinkled her nose at him and bumped their shoulders together.

“You don’t get along with your dad?” Shawn watched Jack and Ellie lean into each other. She might only be 15 but he was willing to be that there were some serious and extremely deep feelings there. He wondered if they even recognized their own feelings.

“Daddy and I get along great. He’s just always encouraged me to be better than he is, accomplishes more. My IQ is higher. I finished high school earlier, got my first doctorates younger. He’s proud of me and brags about everything I do.” She explained. She giggled when Jack’s stomach growled loudly. “We should go before your stomach starts cannibalizing you.”

Jack nodded. “You wanna come with us, Shawn?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I don’t wanna be a third wheel.” He waved them off.

“You won’t be a third wheel. I’m used to having two henchmen around to do my bidding anyways. You can fill Henry’s spot. Come with us. I’ll show you around all the good spots on campus.” Ellie smiled happily.

Shawn hesitated. “If you’re sure…”

“Of course we’re sure. Come on. It’ll be better than hanging out with Daniel.” Jack grimaced.

“Very true. All right. I’m in. Lead the way, Doc.” 

~*~

Jack tugged his shoe on while watching his roommate flip through a thick chemistry book. “You should come with us. Too much studying rots your brains.”

“I’m fairly certain Doc would disagree with you on that one.” Shawn glared at him. “Besides this is a family dinner for Ellie’s birthday. A - I’m not family and B - I’ve known her for two weeks. She doesn’t want me there.” 

Ellie let herself into their room. “Yes, I do Shawn. You should come. Plus friends are family. As evidenced by tonight's bunch.” 

Jack nodded. “Tonight’s family dinner isn’t just the Reids. It’s the BAU family. So that is Ellie’s parents and younger brother, my parents and my three younger siblings, Aunt JJ, Uncle Will and their two sons, Uncle Derek and Aunt Savannah and their three kids, Aunt Emily and her two adopted kids, Aunt Penny, and Uncle Dave. He’s footing the bill tonight. You should totally come.”

“That’s uh…” He frowned. 

“25 if you come. Which you are. Doctor’s orders.” She tilted her head and crossed her arms issuing a silent challenge to come up with another excuse why he wasn’t going.

“I don’t want to get dressed up.” He studied Jack’s slacks and starched dress shirt. He’d even gotten a haircut earlier in the day for the celebration. Ellie had opted for a pair of dark purple skinny jeans with a print blouse and an argyle cardigan. She’d swapped her messenger bag for a much smaller crossbody purse. She was wearing a pair of sparkly flats instead of converse. “You never wear jeans.”

“Jeans are better for running around with the kids. Just toss a clean shirt on. It’ll be fine. There will be a whole range of dress. Aunt Penny will look like a rainbow vomited on her. Uncle Aaron will probably be wearing a full suit. Uncle Will will probably be wearing jeans and a nice button down. No one cares what you dress like as long as you show up.” Ellie tugged on his arm.

He shook her off and went to his dresser. He found a clean button down that would at least give the appearance of putting in some effort. “You have a big ass family.” 

Jack poked Ellie’s side making her giggle. “Yes, we do, but our family puts the fun in dysfunctional.”

“I believe it.” Shawn came back and held his arms out so his attire could be inspected. “Satisfied, Birthday Girl?”

She nodded. “Yup.” She poked Jack’s stomach. “Gimme a piggy back ride.” 

He scoffed at her. “I know Aunt Scout taught you manners. I was there.”

“I would like a piggy back ride, please.”

“Sure.” He turned his back to her and bent his knees. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He caught her legs in his arms. 

Shawn laughed and opened the door for them. He locked up then followed them downstairs to where they were being picked up. A large SUV pulled up. The passenger window rolled down and a woman leaned out. “We’re looking for our Baby Genius. Has anyone seen her? She’s super adorable, wears mismatched patterns and socks. She responds to the name of Ellie sometimes.” 

“Mom.” Ellie rolled her eyes and let Jack put her down. She kissed her step-mother’s cheek before opening the back door of the SUV.

Scout smiled. “Hey, Jack.”

“Hey, Aunt Scout.” He grinned and kissed her cheek as well before following Ellie into the middle seat of the vehicle. He exchanged nods with Spencer. “This is my roommate Shawn. Some bossy doctor told him that he had to come with us. Ow! Stop abusing me!” He grunted and leaned away when Ellie punched his side.

“Then don’t call me bossy. Finish introducing Shawn.” Ellie made a face at him.

Jack nodded. “Shawn, meet Ellie’s family. Her parents, Scout and Spencer. Her 12-year-old brother, Brandon. He’ll be attending Yale this semester to start on his Ph.D. in astrophysics.” He pointed to the boy working on a tablet in the back seat. 

“Impressive. Nice to meet everyone. Thanks for the ride.” Shawn smiled.

“No problem. Welcome to the family.” Scout smiled at him over her shoulder.

Dave had rented the private dining room in an upscale restaurant to celebrate his oldest niece’s birthday. A couple hours later, Dave Rossi leaned against the wall next to Shawn where he was watching Ellie unwrap her presents. “Overwhelmed?” 

“A bit. There’s just so many of you. How do you keep everyone straight?” Shawn laughed when Ellie chased a small girl, one of Emily’s he remembered, around the table after she had snatched a freshly unwrapped necklace from the birthday girl. 

“You get used to it. Damn, it never matters how much money or effort I put into a present, Jack’s is always the one that’s the highlight.” Dave sighed. Ellie had retrieved the stolen item and turned her back to Jack for him to fasten it around her neck. “What is it this time, Kiddo?” 

Ellie smiled and fingered the small silver disk. “It has hands doing a pinky promise on it.” She turned around and hugged her friend tightly and rubbed their noses together. She pulled away blushing when all the adults awwed at them.

“What’s the deal with that? The rubbing noses and pinky promise thing? They won’t tell me.” Shawn looked at the man next to him.

“Join the club. They won’t tell anyone. The nose-rubbing thing is from some TV show they watched on DVD as little kids. It had these two gnomes that kissed by rubbing noses. As for the pinky promise thing, all we know is that when they were little they made a pinky promise. They’ve never told anyone what that promise was. Everyone has their own theory.” Dave shrugged.

“What’s your theory?”

“I’m not sure if they even remember their pinky promise, but it’s become their way to tell each other their affection for each other. If you spend much time around, you’ll notice that they’re both free with ‘I love you’ to everyone else, but they never say it to each other. They always say ‘pinky promise’ when I would expect them to say ‘I love you.’” The older man explained.

Shawn considered. “Huh. That’s kind of cool I guess. Sappy but cool.” 

Ellie smiled at Shawn as he and Jack helped her pack up her gifts to take back to the dorms a while later. “So did our family scare you off?”

He shook his head. “No, I liked them. They’re intimidating. I’m pretty sure that Jack’s dad thinks I’m a criminal or something from the way that he watches me, but they’re cool.”

“He watches everyone like that at first. He’ll stop when he gets to know you better,” Jack explained passing Ellie a pile of new sweater vests. They finished packing everything into a bag and loaded it into the SUV before climbing in themselves.

“Thanks for letting me crash your family dinner. It was nice meeting everyone.” Shawn smiled at the Reids before climbing out of the SUV at the dorm. He rocked on his heels as he waited for Jack and Ellie to follow him. The trio waved as the vehicle pulled away several minutes later. 

“I’m going to walk Ellie to her room.” Jack shot Shawn a look. He grabbed the large gift bag containing all of the new presents and held out his elbow for the girl to take. 

Shawn nodded understanding that the other boy wanted a few minutes alone with her. “Goodnight Ellie. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks, Shawn. See you later.” She waved cheerfully. They watched him jog towards one of the dorms. They turned in the opposite direction and started towards the building where Ellie’s room was. “I think Gracie is halfway in love with him.” 

Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. “She’s halfway in love with any boy she meets that isn’t family. You should have seen her last year, flirting with the guys on my soccer team. She’s gotten worse, though. If that’s even possible. Dad says he has to wear earplugs whenever she’s got friends over because they giggle constantly.”

She laughed. “He’s going to have a heart attack when she actually starts dating.” 

“Yeah, he is. It’ll just make him love me more because I’m the good kid and never get in any trouble.” He watched her unlock her door. He passed her the bag of presents then looked up and down the quiet hallway. “So there’s a little more to your present. If you want it of course.”

She looked at him. “Well, how do I decide if I want the last part of my present?” 

He tugged on a curl. “You know exactly what the last part is. If you don’t want it, I can just go.” He stepped back from her.

“No! I want it,” she said quickly.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to.” He took a couple more steps away.

“Jack-Jack!” She pouted at him.

He laughed and moved closer, guiding her into her room. He closed the door before touching his nose to hers. “Absolutely sure?”

“Just do it already or you won’t live to see 19.” She poked him in the chest. 

He tilted his head slightly and closed the distance between their lips. He kept the pressure light until she parted her lips. He let her deepen the kiss, tongues teasing while they pressed closer to each other. He sighed and nuzzled into her neck after ending the kiss. 

She ran her hand down his arm as she stepped away from him. They linked their fingers together and rubbed their noses together. “Pinky promise,” she whispered resting her forehead against his.

“Pinky promise.” He stroked a hand over her hair before turning towards the door. “Well, I hope your birthday was a happy one.Goodnight, Doctor Reid.”

“Goodnight, Mr. Hotchner.” She smiled. She locked the door behind him before leaning her head against it.

~*~

Ellie stretched out on Jack’s bed, tucking her skirt carefully around her legs. “What are we doing for your birthday since the fam’s not coming up till the weekend?”

“Essay,” Jack grunted. He shoved aside one book to flip open another one.

“Come on, Jack. It’s your birthday. Your 19th birthday. We have to do something fun.” She pouted at his back. He was hunched over his laptop at the desk in front of the window. He’d obviously run his hands through his hair several times since it was sticking up at odd angles. She smiled. He was so cute when he was studying. She sighed and made herself comfortable to wait for Shawn to get in from his Chem Lab. He’d give her reinforcements to pull Jack away from his studies since she knew the essay wasn’t due till Friday. She couldn’t let his birthday pass without some sort of celebration.

Shawn slipped into the room. “You’re still working on that essay?” 

“He’s being resistant to doing anything for his birthday.” Ellie pushed herself up on her elbows. She gave him an exasperated look then turned back to glare at the back of Jack’s head.

“Dude, we’re going out for a pizza. You’ve been stressing over that essay for a week and a half. If you’re not done by now, you never will be. Plus Doc’s about to start shooting lasers at your head from her eyes.” Shawn tossed his backpack on his bed. He started poking at the back of Jack’s head.

He swatted at Shawn’s hand. “Professor Mitchelson is really strict. It has to be perfect.” 

“I’ll read your essay for you tomorrow. Now come on. Pizza. I’ll even pay since it’s your birthday.” Ellie stood up knowing that her promise to check over his work would lure him away from his desk. She bounced on her toes while they waited for the birthday boy to smooth his hair down and neatly stack his books and papers. “Oh my god. Jack, I’m starving. Let’s go already.”

“I’m coming.” He held out her messenger bag. “Did you check in with whoever’s in charge of you since Mrs. Lowell is away?”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Yes. Miss Sanderson from the financial office is my chaperone till Mrs. Lowell comes back. I told her that I was going out to dinner with you and Shawn for your birthday. I have to call her when I get back to my room. She treats me like a baby. I keep expecting her to ask if my nappy needs changed and if I need my binky. We all know that Aunt Penny tracks my phone 24/7 when I’m at school anyways.”

“Did you tell her that?” Jack asked.

“Yes, and ended up receiving a lecture about how because I’m still a minor the school is responsible for me and I need to take it more seriously and treat my chaperone with more respect and be a good little girl and blah blah blah. Whatever. Mrs. Lowell is back on Sunday. Five more days. I just have to make it till then.” She made a face.

Shawn snorted. “Yeah, ‘cause someone going to school for their billionth doctorate is totally not taking school seriously.”

She giggled. “Next time she tries to lecture me, I’m so calling you to talk to her. Maybe you can make her see reason.”

“Go for it. If that fails, I’ll just take one for the team and seduce her.” Shawn grinned.

Ellie’s face contorted in disgust. “Gross Shawn. She’s easily in her 70s.” She made gagging noises. Jack laughed and tugged her out of the way of a guy on a bicycle. They hooked their arms together and continued teasing Shawn about sleeping with Ellie’s elderly, temporary campus guardian until they got to the pizzeria.

Shawn and Jack staked a claim on a booth while Ellie placed their order. “You know what I was just thinking?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t want to know if it’s about Miss Sanderson.” Jack eyed him.

“Shut up, asshole. I was just thinking that it’s a good thing Daniel bailed that first night. There’s no way we’d be able to keep him from trying to get Ellie into bed if he actually hung out with her.” Shawn leaned on the table between them.

Jack shook his head. “He’s too superficial. He would never have gotten past the mismatched socks, clashing patterns, and sweater vests to see how amazing she is. Plus he wouldn’t have hung out with us much longer. You and I both put in too much effort studying.”

“Oh, yeah true.” Shawn nodded. He watched Jack watch Ellie get into a lively conversation with the girl behind the counter. “How long?”

“How long what?” Jack frowned at him.

Shawn smiled. “How long have you been in love with her?”

“She’s only 16.” He traced patterns on the table top and avoided looking at his friend.

“In some states, that’s the age of consent.” Shawn pointed out.

Jack considered him. “We’re both residents of the state of Virginia where the age of consent is 18. Plus both of our fathers are extremely proficient with firearms. Hers, in particular, has a history of dead center headshots. Since I’m rather attached to my brain and my life, nothing’s happening until she’s 18. At the very earliest.”

“You still didn’t answer my question.”

“And I’m not going to. Sorry buddy, that’s one mystery you’re just going to have to live with.” Jack stood up to take the tray containing their drinks from Ellie and allow her to slide to the inside of the booth.

“What mystery? I like mysteries.” Ellie looked at them with bright eyes.

Jack shook his head. “Nothing. You got a good pizza right?”

She nodded and sipped at her orange soda. “I got an extra large half everything and half ham and pineapple plus two orders of breadsticks.”

“Wow, Doctor Money Bags. Wanna adopt me? I’m already out of cash from what my parents sent me two weeks ago.” Shawn blew the wrapper of his straw at her.

She watched it land on the table. “Well, that was a massive failure. I sold several articles last month.”

“Oh. Nice. I should try to get a job or something.” He sighed.

“Couldn’t hurt the way you blow through money.” She shrugged.

Shawn shrugged back at her. “So how goes the doctorates?” 

“Progressing.” She launched into an explanation of her latest research for her psychology thesis that lasted until their meal arrived.

“Sorry, Doc. You lost me back at progressing,” Shawn teased grabbing a slice of pizza.

She wrinkled her nose at him and stabbed a breadstick in his direction. “Whatever. You’re not as stupid as you make yourself seem. You have an academic scholarship along with your soccer one. Plus you’re majoring in chemistry. That’s not an easy degree to get.”

“Why are we talking about me so much? You should be telling me embarrassing stories about the birthday boy.” Shawn flashed her his most charming grin.

“No. Ellie, no.” Jack saw the mischief in her eyes.

She giggled and squirmed away from his tickling fingers. “Once when we were little. I was three so he was six, he got bored waiting for me to wake up from my nap so that Aunt Julia could take us to the BAU office for a visit. While she was distracted on the phone, he decided to go looking through his dad’s bathroom cabinet.” She pulled his hand away from her mouth and ignored his pleas to be silent. “Well, he found a box of balloons and he made them all water balloons.”

Shawn threw his head back laughing. “They weren’t balloons.”

“They weren’t balloons.” Ellie cackled. “They were his dad’s condoms. All of his dad’s condoms. Aunt Julia almost killed him for making a humongous mess of their bathroom and bedroom, because of course, he dropped several of the ‘balloons’ in the bedroom. Uncle Aaron almost killed him because obviously, he had wasted a lot of condoms.”

Jack thumped his head on the table. “Oh my god, why did you tell that story?”

“Because it’s a great story. Plus, mathematically…”

He crammed a breadstick in her mouth. “No. Shut up now. It’s my birthday. You’re supposed to be nice to me. Not tell embarrassing stories about how my attempt to make water balloons may have contributed to my youngest sister's conception. I didn’t tell a single embarrassing story about you on your birthday.”

She wrinkled her nose at him and chewed her mouthful of food. She let him steer the conversation to a neutral topic. “You guys want to come watch movies in my room?” she asked as they walked back to the dorms after they finished eating.

“I’ve got a test tomorrow in math so I’m gonna pass. Thanks for dinner.” Shawn gave her a quick hug. “Jack, happy birthday man.” He thumped him on the back.

“Thanks. I’ll see you later.” Jack nodded and followed Ellie to her room. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. He rubbed his nose against hers. “Thanks for making me take a break from that essay. Thanks for my birthday dinner. Just… pinky promise.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome. Pinky promise.”

He released her after a moment. She passed him her laptop before pulling out some pajamas. He scrolled through her Netflix list while she changed. She joined him a few minutes later, snuggling into his side. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Yup. Start the movie.”

~*~

Hotch and Spencer headed right for the desk sergeant as soon as they arrived at the police precinct. Spencer gestured for their wives to stay in the waiting area. “We’re here for Jack Hotchner.” Hotch showed his FBI credentials and bar card.

“And Ellie Reid. Is she here?” Reid held out his own credentials.

“Miss Reid was taken for an exam by her campus-appointed chaperone and a female detective. As for Mr. Hotchner, we have him in a room.”

Reid raised a brow. “What exactly is going on here? I’m Ellie’s father, and all I know is what she told me. She said that Jack had been arrested for raping her. I want details, and I want them now.”

“Let’s me get Detective Landers. This is her case. I’ll be right back.” The uniformed officer at the desk hurried off. 

“Chief Hotchner, Agent Reid. I’m Detective Landers.” She joined them. 

“Doctor Reid,” he corrected. “What’s going on?”

“This morning we got a call from Miss Sanderson saying that Ellie Reid was, at best, the victim of statutory rape or, at worst, the victim of a violent rape. She reported that she had seen Jack Hotchner leaving the girl’s dorm room at just after 6 AM. Miss Reid was taken to the hospital, but she refused to allow herself to be examined. Finally, the detective accompanying her was able to convince her to see the gynecologist of her choice to be checked. We’re waiting for the report back from that.” The detective watched the two men for reactions.

Hotch stared at her. “It’s not SOP to arrest someone for rape before the victim has been examined.”

She nodded. “You’re right. We wouldn’t have except that Miss Sanderson was adamant that Mr. Hotchner is an imminent threat to Miss Reid.”

Reid gaped at Hotch. “I kind of want to laugh at that.”

“Who’s Miss Sanderson? I thought Mrs. Lowell was Ellie’s chaperone.” Hotch looked at him.

Reid nodded. “Mrs. Lowell’s mother died so she’ll be back on Sunday. The school contacted us and said that they had assigned a temporary chaperone. I’m assuming that Miss Sanderson is that chaperone. She obviously didn’t take any time to learn anything about Ellie or Jack.” 

“I want to see my son now. As his lawyer if necessary,” Hotch said.

She nodded. “This way.” The two men followed her to the interrogation room. “Doctor Reid, you’ll have to wait out here,” she stated when he moved to follow Hotch in. 

“Fine,” he responded tersely but stayed just outside the closed door. “Well?” he asked when Hotch came out several minutes later.

“He insists that it’s a misunderstanding. He swears that he’s never had sex with Ellie, that he just fell asleep in her room watching movies after they went to dinner for his birthday last night with Shawn. I believe him. As his father and as a profiler.” Hotch kept his voice low and watched the detective strain to hear them

Ellie burst through the doors with two women following her. “Daddy!” She thrust a paper at him. “Make them let Jack go.”

He read the paper before carrying it over to the detective. “A medical doctor has confirmed that my daughter is still a virgin and has not experienced any sexual assault or activity.”

“I saw that boy leaving Ellie’s room!” one of the women that had followed Ellie in exclaimed.

“He fell asleep while we watched movies. I tried to explain but you wouldn’t listen to me.” Ellie glared at her.

“You must be Miss Sanderson.” Reid cut her off when she went to speak. “Ellie and Jack have been close friends nearly their entire lives. There have been many occasions where they have slept in the same bed. Sometimes with other children from our group of friends or their siblings and sometimes just the two of them. It’s not unusual at all.”

“I couldn’t just take her word for it. He may have coerced her.” The chaperone clenched her teeth together as the detective gestured for Jack to come out of the interrogation room.

Jack looked around the group after he was uncuffed. “Is that it? Everything’s taken care of?”

“You haven’t had any sexual contact with Miss Reid?” Detective Landers asked.

Jack glanced at his father for permission to speak. Hotch nodded.  “No. We’ve kissed once. That’s the only thing even remotely sexual we’ve done.”

“Twice,” Ellie corrected.

“Not really helping me out here.” Jack grimaced when Reid stared at him. “The first kiss was a dozen years ago and does not count as anything close to sexual activity.” He hunched his shoulders when the FBI agent continued staring. He saw the man’s fingers twitch like he wanted to reach for his revolver. He held his hands up and stepped backward. “I kissed her on her birthday. It was consensual! She said I could! And my hands didn’t roam. It was barely first base! I swear!”

“Just keep that kiss tally in the single digits until she’s 18.” Spencer narrowed his eyes at the teenager.

Jack nodded quickly. “Yes, sir.”

“Is Jack free to go now?” Hotch put his hand on his shoulder.

“Yes. I’m very sorry for the misunderstanding,” Detective Landers said.

Ellie hooked her arm through Jack’s and tugged him through the station leaving their fathers and the chaperone to follow. She pulled him to their mothers. “Are you okay, Baby?” Julia Hotchner wrapped him in a hug.

“Yeah, that is not an experience I ever want to repeat.” He sighed. 

“I am sorry for the misunderstanding, but I assure you that I had your daughter’s welfare in mind.” Miss Sanderson turned to Spencer and Scout.

“We’re sure you did. However, you should have just asked Ellie and Jack for an explanation. They’re both honest and would have been forthright with an answer. Instead, you caused both my husband and me, as well as the Hotchners, to panic and take time from our jobs to make an unplanned trip from Virginia.” Scout’s voice was icy. “This would never have happened if Mrs. Lowell had been here. She would have had the common sense to ask questions first. I will be staying with Ellie until Mrs. Lowell returns. In the future, if Mrs. Lowell is unable to attend to Ellie’s need for a chaperone, I expect to be notified so that my husband, myself, or another trusted adult of our choosing can be available.”

“I’ll make sure I notify the administration office.” Miss Sanderson nodded and hurried out. 

Hotch shook his head. He smiled as he looked at the two teenagers “Let’s go get some lunch. While we eat, you two can tell us all about this kiss that happened a dozen years ago.”

~*~

Ellie pressed her face to the window watching it rain. She opened her mouth and blew fog onto the cold pane. She traced the shape of her swingset onto the glass. “Think my mama would take us to the library?”

“Nuh uh. The road’s closed ‘cause a tree fell. That’s why my mom’s late picking me up.” Jack rolled from his stomach onto his back. “We could play a game.”

The four-year-old girl sighed dramatically and flopped down beside her best friend. “Meh. We could do magic.”

“Uncle Spencer said no more magic when he’s not here to watch us. We could read.”

“I already read for hours this morning. We could build with legos?”

Jack rolled onto his side to face her. “All the good Legos are at my house. Maybe your mom would let us Skype our dads or maybe Aunt Penny.”

Ellie shook her head, curly pigtails bouncing around her face. “The case is really, really bad. Aunt Penny went with them. I heard Daddy tell Mama that he’s not sleeping it’s so bad.”

“Oh.” The blond boy rolled onto his back again and blew a raspberry at the ceiling.

“We could play pretend?” Ellie poked his arm.

He sat up and looked at her. “Okay. What do you want to pretend? We can’t do dinosaurs. Henry’s not here.”

She considered chewing the inside of her cheek. Her eyes lit up. “We could do Rapunzel and Flynn. Including the wedding scene since Henry’s not here to say it’s icky.” Jack threw himself into her pile of stuffed animals and mumbled something. Ellie grabbed his hair and pulled his face away from the animals and giggled at how red it was. “What did you say?”

“I don’t wanna pretend marry you. I wanna for real marry you. When we’re grown up.” He huffed out a breath.

Ellie’s own cheeks pinked. “I wanna for real marry you, too. After I become a doctor like Daddy and work for the FBI.”

The boy licked his lips and looked at her. He extended a hand with all of his fingers curled in except his pinky. “We’ll pinky promise to get married for real. We’ll do it after you’re a doctor at the FBI like Uncle Spencer and I’m in the FBI too. We can work together and be married and travel around saving people.”

She hooked her pinky around his and smiled. “Okay, pinky promise.”

Jack grinned. Whenever his daddy promised his new mom something, he always gave her a kiss. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers quickly. “Pinky promise,” he whispered.


End file.
